In Depth Nasutoceratops was the second genus of centrosaurine ceratopsian dinosaur to be discovered in the south west of the USA, the first genus being Diabloceratops that was named three years earlier. Back in the Cretaceous the South-west of what is now the USA was the southern portion of Laramidia, an island landmass extending from … Read more
In Depth Named using the Zuni for ‘grinding mouth’ Jeyawati’s classification is a little uncertain. Usually Jeyawati is classed as a hadrosaurid, but body features have led some researchers to place Jeyawati within the much broader ornithopod classification. Further and more complete skeletal material may yet shed more light upon the body of Jeyawati resulting … Read more
In Depth As stegosaurs go Chungkingosaurus was towards the smaller end of the scale at four meters long. The hips and humerus (upper arm bone) of Chungkingosaurus seem to be quite primitive when compared to other stegosaurs. The skull is also deep which might be a relict primitive trait, or an adaptation for supporting stronger … Read more
In Depth Penelopognathus is a genus of hadrosauroid dinosaur that lived in Mongolia during the early Cretaceous. Unfortunately, because only a partial jaw of this dinosaur has been recovered, not much is known about Penelopognathus. Further Reading - A new primitive hadrosauroid dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Inner Mongolia (P. R. China). - Comptes … Read more
In Depth The first Brachylophosaurus remains were discovered in Alberta in 1936, but were not named until 1953 when Charles Sternberg made the description. A second species of Brachylophosaurus was named as B. goodwini by Jack Horner in 1988; however the wider consensus today is that these individuals are actually further individuals of the genus … Read more
In Depth Remarkably when Troodon was first ‘discovered’ it was only known from a tooth, and it was the description of this tooth that gave rise to the genus. Although naming a creature after only discovering its teeth is hard to imagine today, it was a common place practice in the nineteenth century, and at … Read more
In Depth Although the name Gondwanatitan implies that this dinosaur was ‘titanic’, it was actually quite modest in size, especially when you compare it to other South American giants like Argentinosaurus. Instead the name is a play on the classification of Gondwanatitan which is considered to be one of the titanosaurs, a special group of … Read more
In Depth This tyrannosaur is one of the earliest known and the fact that it hails from Western Europe means that the origins of the tyrannosaurs need to be carefully considered. Given that the largest and last of the group are known mostly from North America, and the smallest and earliest are known from Asia, … Read more
In Depth Further Reading - A new tiny dromaeosaurid dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous Jehol Group of western Liaoning and niche differentiation among the Jehol dromaeosaurids. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 55(2):129-144. - X. Xu & Z.-C. Qin - 2017.
In Depth Haplocanthosaurus was a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived in North America during the late Jurassic period. The name Haplocanthosaurus was actually the second choice of name for this dinosaur as the palaeontologist who first described it, John Bell Hatcher, originally chose the name Haplocanthus. However, after this Hatcher became aware of a … Read more